How to Fake a Marriage Outtakes
by quicksilversquared
Summary: Assorted missing scenes and POV's from other characters during How to Fake a Marriage.
1. Chapter 1

_In which Chloe is still somewhat delusional about what her relationship with Adrien is actually like  
_

* * *

Chloe Bourgeois was planning on having a perfectly lovely day. Her father had bought her a pass to a few hours in the spa in the morning, and then she had been given permission to go shopping afterwards, since her wardrobe was _dreadfully_ out of style and needed replacing (she couldn't be seen wearing _last_ year's styles, obviously, and there were some lovely new things out from some of her favorite designers). She had the whole rest of the day free to do whatever she wanted after that.

But she wasn't going to worry about that now, Chloe decided as she relaxed into the massage table. She could wait until later to decide what she was going to do with the rest of her day. Maybe there would be some famous people staying at the Grand Paris and she could hang out with them, or maybe she would simply have a day all for herself and watch her favorite movies all afternoon while snacking on gourmet chocolates. Either would be quite fun.

Once her massage was over, Chloe headed straight for her favorite boutiques for a bit of shopping . She had to endure a few minutes of dealing with rude shopkeeper's assistants before the designers themselves came running out to wait on her personally. It didn't take long for her to pick out a few things and commission a few more, and then Chloe was headed on her way. It was the _perfect_ day.

Granted, there was one _tiny_ problem. Her phone screen had gotten broken to bits the day before during a small tantrum about not getting the newest model of her phone as soon as it came out, so she had to spend the day without it while her dad ordered the phone she _wanted_ and got it delivered right away. That meant that she couldn't text Sabrina or post pictures of herself at the spa or shopping at the mall so all of her followers could see what she was up to, but she had found that she really wasn't _that_ bothered by it. It was nice to not be constantly interrupted with texts from Sabrina all day long, and she found that she could enjoy her massage _much_ better when she wasn't checking her phone or trying to twist herself into getting a good angle for a selfie.

After popping into a jewelry story for a quick look-around (even if her father had forbidden jewelry shopping for the next few months after she ran up a bill that was a _little_ too high his tastes, that didn't mean that Chloe couldn't look for pieces that _other_ people could give to her as presents!), Chloe went out for lunch at a high-end new restaurant that had been getting absolutely _amazing_ reviews online, and then spent the afternoon lounging in her room, giggling with some actresses that were staying at the Grand Paris. She borrowed her butler Jean-Pierre's phone to take some selfies with them so she could show the photos off online later, and then only once they had left did she flounce over to her father's office.

"Darling, your new phone came in!" her father said cheerfully, waving at where his secretary was hunched over a phone. "Britta is just getting it all set up for you now and getting your information from your old phone put into the new one. And did you know that there's all sorts of phone covers you can choose from that would help protect your new phone? I ordered several, and you can pick which one you like best."

"Thank you, daddykins!" Chloe squealed happily. She dug through the covers- clearly the secretary had helped pick the covers out, because her father's taste was _not_ this good _-_ and picked out the best one. Britta slid it on the new phone, and then handed the device over to Chloe.

Armed with her new phone, Chloe trotted happily back off to the Grand Paris for dinner. She had about a million messages from Sabrina, for some reason, but those could wait. After all, Chloe needed to text her Adrikins first. She had remembered on the way over to her father's office that she needed to email him, since he was now all alone in London without her to talk to all the time and he was doubtless miserable without it. She knew that he would want to tell her all about the move, and maybe he would even invite her over to visit.

(Why he had decided to go to _London_ , she didn't know. He hadn't even asked her what she thought about it! It was really rather rude of him not to ask his best friend (and future wife) what she thought about him going over there for school, even though he already had a perfectly good degree and could be putting it to use earning money for their wedding.)

Chloe spent all of dinner putting together a lovely email on her computer, even attaching a whole bunch of photos of herself that she had taken with her new phone, because obviously Adrien would need pictures to decorate his new apartment and what better photos to use than ones of _her_? She had everything saved and ready to send (and a couple extra photos of herself attached, just for good measure) when Jean-Marc stuck his head in her door.

"Miss? Your friend Sabrina called the hotel in quite a state. She said that you haven't responded to any of her texts. I reminded her that your phone had been broken last night and you only just got a replacement, but she still seemed rather agitated."

"I'll take care of it, Jean-Paul," Chloe said loftily, waving a hand in his direction. Whatever Sabrina was upset about could no doubt wait until _after_ she emailed Adrien. "Did she say anything else?"

Her butler only shrugged. "She said something about Facebook, but I couldn't quite make out what it was that she was saying."

 _Something about Facebook?_ Perhaps Adrien had posted a particularly handsome photo of himself and Sabrina, being the caring friend she was, had wanted to make sure that Chloe saw it. Chloe would have to check it out. "Okay. That's all?"

"That is all, madam." Jean-Luc made a short little bow and then backed out of the room, closing the door behind himself. Chloe turned back to her computer and opened a new tab so she could check her Facebook. She hummed happily to herself as the page loaded, imagining what unintentionally handsome pose Adrien would be in in his newest photo. Maybe he would even be wearing yellow! He was always so handsome in yellow, especially because then they matched.

And then the pictures loaded on her screen, and Chloe _screamed_. Because while yes, Adrien _had_ posted new photos online, and _yes_ he looked very handsome in them, the photos were of _him at his wedding._

 _Adrien. At. His. Wedding._ And he wasn't marrying _her,_ like he was supposed to, but _Marinette Dupain-Cheng!_

Was he _insane?_ Was he being blackmailed or something into getting married to that girl? Was she promising him free pastries or something? It couldn't be true, it just _couldn't_.

Chloe was practically hyperventilating as she scrolled through all of the photos. She was living a nightmare now, she really was. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to throw a tantrum.

It _just. wasn't. fair._

* * *

Chloe sniffled rather pathetically as she munched on another chocolate in her room. Adrien had posted a video of his wedding online earlier, and it had taken everything she had to not throw her phone through her window and scream in denial.

(Her father had taken the computer away the previous night so that she wouldn't post any nasty comments on Adrien or Marinette's photos. It was a rather useless move; she would rather text Adrien directly to figure out what was going on but he wasn't responding, and Marinette had long since blocked Chloe on Facebook. She would have texted Marinette some rather nasty things, but she had lost her former classmate's number long ago.)

So now she was drowning her sorrows in chocolate, her favorite movies, and the occasional glass of wine. Jean-Michel refused to give her the whole bottle at once. Apparently it wouldn't be ladylike or seemly for her to drink that much at once.

 _Apparently_ no one told Adrien that it was unseemly to elope with _Marinette Dupain-Cheng_ the second he got to London.

A knock on the door stopped Chloe from downing another chocolate (she was going to have to go to the _gym_ now! That was just one more thing Adrien was going to have to answer for). She put the chocolate down and sat up. Perhaps it was Jean-Pascal coming with another small glass of wine. "Yes?"

Jean-Henri stuck his head in. "Mademoiselle, your friend Sabrina is here to see you. She says she has news-"

"I don't care! My Adrikins is _married_ and nothing will ever be okay again!"

"But he's not, Chloe!" Sabrina burst out, pushing past Jean-Claude and dashing into the room. "Have you checked Facebook recently, Chloe?"

"Yes, and there was a _video!_ That Marinette Dupain-Cheng must have gotten them to take it to rub it in my face-"

"It's _fake!_ It was a _prank!_ " Sabrina waved her phone in front of Chloe's face. "He didn't get married for real!"

Chloe gaped at her for a second, then reached out and grabbed Sabrina's phone, staring at the screen. Adrien's Facebook was pulled up and Sabrina had zoomed in on the newest post. It was a picture of a bunch of random people plus the wedding party and Adrien and Marinette. Under it was a caption.

 _'Thanks to everyone who helped us pull off the impromptu wedding! In case you haven't already guessed, it was completely fake. I'm slightly concerned by how many people thought we weren't kidding though! :D'._

Chloe gaped, then smiled, then _scowled._

 _Oooh,_ Adrien was in for the scolding of a _lifetime_ next time she saw him. She was going to have to go to the gym now to work off all of the chocolates and wine she had eaten because she was distressed by his stupid _prank,_ and Chloe _hated_ the gym. He would have to _really_ grovel if he wanted to get back into her good graces, or maybe buy her one of the necklaces that she had been eying the previous day. Either that, or he would have to take her on a date.

Yes, that would be best, Chloe decided after a moment of thought. A date with Adrien where she could remind him who he was _supposed_ to be with. She could drop hints about getting a necklace as a Christmas present while they were out together so he would know what to buy for her, since _his_ father hadn't put any stupid limits on his spending. She would make him promise not to pull any stupid stunts like that in the future, too.

After all, her figure simply wouldn't be able to handle the stress again.

* * *

 _A/N: This particular collection of one-shots is assorted scenes in HTFAM. I don't know for sure how many chapters there will be total (I really don't plan them out in advance at all) but there should be at least a few over the course of the entire story.  
_

 _I hope you enjoyed the story! Please review, it really makes my day :)_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: So this was a deleted chapter from HTFAM that I discarded in favor of a bit of a time skip and then decided to keep and turn into an outtake. It's set after Adrien and Marinette decide to move in together for the remainder of their time in London._

* * *

One of the funniest things about Adrien and Marinette, all of Marinette's team members agreed, was that the two of them were _not_ anywhere as smooth as they thought they were. The two of them hadn't even remotely _tried_ to hide how friendly they were with each other during Marinette's first year, and everyone had seen how their relationship had gradually progressed from a simple close friendship into something _more_.

And everyone had seen how suddenly, they were working to keep a little distance between them, like they were trying to pretend that they were back to just normal friend status- but when they thought no one was paying attention, they gravitated right back towards each other with little touches and fond looks. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were dating but for some strange reason, had decided to keep it secret from the world- or, rather, as secret as it could be when speculation about their love life was being published in the tabloids every other month.

None of them asked _why_. It had become a kind of source of amusement for the group of them, watching as Adrien and Marinette scrambled to act innocent whenever there were other people around. But everyone could see how Marinette lit up at the mention of Adrien and how she was always happy to go home and spend time with him, and how protective Adrien was of Marinette and how eager to please her he was.

Even if they weren't _actually_ living with each other, the two of them acted like newlyweds and not all of the acting in the world could hide it.

Abbey Bernard's lips twitched in amusement as she thought about her most recent visit to Adrien and Marinette. She had mostly wanted to swing by to tease Marinette about the most recent slew of tabloid coverage about her and Adrien- their spa visit hadn't gone unnoticed, and wasn't that the cutest thing ever? Abbey wished that she could find a guy that would treat her as well as Adrien treated Marinette- and Marinette hadn't been over in her apartment. Instead, to the surprise of absolutely no one, she was hanging over at Adrien's apartment across the hall.

And- wasn't it the funniest thing?- it rather looked as though Marinette _lived_ over in Adrien's apartment. Her things were scattered all over, her work ID tossed casually in a bowl on a table near the door next to the apartment keys and Adrien's school ID and bus pass and two sweaters of hers over the back of the couch. The last time that Abbey had seen the inside of Marinette's apartment, it had looked curiously bare.

"Hey, Abbey!" a voice called, and Abbey internally groaned, re-focusing on her work. She had a whole pile of paperwork that she had to get done- most of it having to do with fabric orders- and any interruptions would drag it out that much longer before she could finish and return to actually _designing_. "I had a question for you!"

"If it's about the editing on the latest photoshoot, I don't have a clue, ask Shannon," Abbey said automatically, and then she glanced up and saw Marinette hanging over her cubicle call. "Oh! Marinette! Hey, what's up?"

"I had a non-work question, but first- uh, could you keep something a secret?" Marinette cringed as soon as the words came out. "That sounds weird, I'm sorry, I mean-"

"If this is about you and Adrien dating, everyone here already knows- or, well, they all suspect, at least," Abbey said, cutting her off and making Marinette's eyes fly wide in surprise. She just internally shook her head. Had Marinette _really_ thought that no one had noticed? Good _lord_. Well, maybe now they could stop the acting, now that they knew that their secret was out. "You two _aren't_ subtle with the flirting, you know."

I- but-" Marinette spluttered, looking _incredibly_ flustered. "We haven't flirted _here_ -"

"You two never _stop_ flirting." Abbey grinned, shaking her head. Even as sickly sweet as Adrien and Marinette could get at times, it was still cute. "But I'm guessing you didn't just come over to update me on your relationship status after-" she checked her calendar- "what, almost ten months of dating?"

Marinette _spluttered_ even more, looking completely taken off guard. Abbey just waited patiently, knowing that it shouldn't take _too_ long for her to recover. Thankfully Marinette managed to recover, though her cheeks were still a bit pink. Abbey watched as she straightened her shoulders, visibly composing herself before speaking again. "I, uh- well, I was wondering if you were still looking for a new apartment to move to."

Abbey made a face at the question, remembering her latest attempts to get out of her (rather terrible) apartment. It wasn't that the space was a mess or anything- it was just cramped beyond belief, was freezing all the time because it was always in the shade, and it wasn't in a great location, considering where she worked. The only opening that she had been able to find at a _slightly_ better location had gotten snatched up before she could get it, which was actually _worse_ than not being able to find anything at all. "Yeah. I gotta re-sign my lease by the end of the week, though, if I can't find anything. And I haven't been able to find anything. Why?"

"I'm planning on moving," Marinette told her, and Abbey's eyes went wide and hopeful. Marinette was _moving?_ Oh, but that would mean that one of the lovely prefurnished apartments in the Rosalie workers' preferred building would be open! "Into Adrien's apartment, so mine will be open."

"But your lease isn't up until- what, the fall? Isn't that what you said last year?" Abbey's mind raced, trying to figure out how she could make sure that her lease would line up with Marinette's apartment opening. If she went for a month-to-month, maybe-

"I've been cleared to sublease," Marinette said before Abbey could think about it too much, and she immediately perked up. "And subleasers get approached first when the main leaser's contract is up and they aren't renewing."

Abbey was grinning. "Oh, I officially love you," she told Marinette. "Not as much as Adrien does, probably, but- oh my _god._ I've been trying to get into that building for _forever_. My current lease is up at the end of the month, but I can extend for a week at a time if needed. When can I move in? And will I need to sanitize every flat surface?" she added impishly, her grin turning wicked.

Marinette snorted. "No, we've kept that to Adrien's apartment- I mean!" she corrected quickly, catching herself just a few seconds too late. Abbey snickered in amusement. "No! We're- we've- that's- I mean to say that that's not a concern and also I'm cleaning before I move out anyway, so _there!"_

Abbey _howled_ with laughter, cackling at Marinette's red face. It took her a minute to calm down and wipe the tears from her eyes. "Right, right. So, anyway- when will I be able to move in?"

Marinette stepped into the cubicle so one of the senior designers could get by, pushing a rack of clothing. Abbey waved to them sheepishly as they gave her a look. Clearly everyone in their section of the floor had hear her laughter. "We can probably manage at the end of the month. I just have to get a few more things out-"

"-aka you've been living with Adrien for a while, then," Abbey filled in, grinning.

"-and then clean and get the inspection done before you move in. It shouldn't take long. Adrien and I can clean this weekend." She giggled. "I'm sure he'll love that I'm volunteering him."

Abbey grinned at her, excitement starting to properly brew in her chest. "That's so great! I'll have to talk to my landlord, then, and tell him that I'll be moving after all. And then I'll start packing, and maybe move some boxes over? Would I be able to store a few small things in Adrien's apartment until the inspection is done? I mean, I can definitely wait, but if I could just move a few things per day so the final push isn't so hard..."

"I'll ask," Marinette promised. "And then I'll text you tonight to let you know. We could probably store some stuff under the couch or maybe in the hall closet. And I'll try to get the apartment cleaned up soon so I can get the inspection done."

"Wanna go over the details at lunch since we're technically supposed to be working right now?" Abbey suggested. She glanced down at her pile of paperwork a bit ruefully. "I want to know everything about the contract, of course, but I'm also supposed to be reviewing a bunch of paperwork right now."

"Of course!"

* * *

"You really don't have a ton left in here," Adrien commented as they surveyed Marinette's apartment that evening. "I mean, I think a lot of your clothes are over at my apartment anyway, and your blankets and pillows and towels, too, and- I mean, I think your apartment is basically just a sewing room at this point, and it's only even that much because we haven't moved the sewing machine back yet."

Marinette nodded a little sheepishly. "Sewing room and extra kitchen, really. And extra room so that Nino and Alya don't realize that we're living together when they visit."

"I'm _so_ glad that Alya won the competition," Adrien said as he and Marinette headed back to the bedroom to see what she had left there. "Not just because I'm proud of her, of course, but she'll be preparing for her trip and then gone for a good chunk of the year, and all of Nino's trips will be to see her. We'll just have to figure out how to keep them from coming over after Alya gets back in- what, January?"

"I just figured that we would make a lot of trips to Paris under the guise of getting most of our stuff back home before the end of the school year," Marinette offered. She checked the first drawer, then reached in to pull out a pile of socks and underwear that she then promptly deposited in Adrien's arms. "And if I find any jobs to apply for, then I would go back for tours or interviews. Hopefully that would be enough visits for them."

"Hopefully," Adrien agreed. He had to think that their trips to Paris would be enough. Nino would be wanting to save money for his trips to see Alya, so if they just resolved to visit Paris several times a semester- which was more than what they had been doing- then maybe they could get away with living in the same apartment. They could maybe schedule more Skype calls as well, so that they could talk... well, not face-to-face, exactly, but as close to face-to-face as they could. "It's funny- like, I _want_ to see Alya and Nino in person, of course, yet I don't want them to visit. That sounds so _bad_."

Marinette laughed.

It didn't take long for them to clear out the bedroom, even with Marinette's rather extensive wardrobe, though it took longer to puzzle out where they could store things in Adrien's apartment. The rest of the apartment took a similarly short time to clear out, even the living room. Marinette had apparently spent a couple evenings cleaning up and packing away the scraps and leftover fabric into bags before she went back to Paris, so it was no big hassle to move all of the sewing things back to their normal spot in Adrien's apartment.

By the end of the evening, Marinette's apartment was sitting empty and was ready to be cleaned- _especially_ the living room, which had bits of fabric fibers everywhere thanks to all of the cut fabric from the commissions, and the bathroom which, despite their best efforts at the time, had some of the screen-printing chemical residue still smeared on the floor and in the tub.

"That wasn't that bad," Adrien commented as Marinette locked her apartment for the night and they headed back across the hall to their apartment. "But it's going to be harder to move out of our apartment once we're done in London," he added, making a bit of a face. "We'll have tons of stuff to carry back and we'll be cleaning and still living there at the same time."

Marinette made a face. "Oh, don't think about that _now_ ," she said. She kicked off her shoes at the door and tossed her keys on the table while Adrien locked the door. "I know we'll have to bring stuff back gradually, like most of our summer things going back to Paris at the end of summer and most of our fall things going back at Christmas, but it's still going to be so _much_."

Adrien couldn't help but laugh. "Funny, you say that we shouldn't think about it, and then you start talking about what we should do to get ready to go back."

Marinette just stuck out her tongue.

The next evening, they started the cleaning. Adrien attacked the bedroom and the living room with a vacuum while Marinette took on the bathroom. It wasn't fun work, especially when Adrien had to pause in his vacuuming to unwind a ribbon that had gotten overlooked and sucked into the vacuum and was very much stuck, but since Marinette had kept the apartment in such good condition for so long, it didn't need a _deep_ cleaning. The kitchen just needed a quick wipe-up, a thorough scrub of the fridge, and a check to make sure none of the cooking things or silverware had migrated across the hall before it could get crossed off of the list of things to do, and the hall closet just needed a quick dust.

"Marinette, can you come help me move the couch so I can clean behind it?" Adrien called, flipping the vacuum off for a moment. "After those are done, the bedroom, the hallway, and the living room will all be finished."

Marinette came trotting out, wiping her hands on a towel. She was grinning. "Really? That's great!"

"And then I'll finish up the closet and work on the kitchen," Adrien told her as they moved the couch and the armchair away from the wall. He flipped the vacuum back on and quickly cleaned the newly exposed carpet. "It helps that most of the apartment hasn't really been used much for a while. There's not a bunch of grit and grime built up. Everything is just a quick clean, really."

"Says the guy who isn't cleaning the bathroom," Marinette said. She waited until the vacuum was off again and in the corner before grabbing her end of the couch so they could move it back up against the wall. "I've gotten most everything off, but there's a few stubborn spots, and I need to clean out the drain."

"Fun, fun."

"Not even remotely. I'm almost tempted to transform into Ladybug so I can have super-strength for the scrubbing. It might go a little faster that way."

Adrien couldn't help the snicker that slipped out. It was just a funny mental image, thinking about Ladybug super-cleaning a bathtub. "Somehow I don't think Tikki would be happy about that."

Marinette's lips twitched upwards in a small smile. "No, probably not."

Despite Marinette's grumbling, it didn't take long at all to get the rest of the cleaning done. Marinette went over the entire apartment again, making sure that that the windows were fully closed, nothing had been left out on the balcony, the adjustable dimmer light over the table was fully off, and all of the chairs were pushed into the table straight. Once that was done, Marinette joined Adrien at the door.

"I thought it would feel weird to be pretty much officially moved out of here, but it doesn't, not at all," Marinette told Adrien. "It feels more like _well, at last_."

"Well, you haven't exactly been living there for a while," Adrien pointed out, holding the door so Marinette could leave. "It'll probably be weird to move out of our apartment next year, though." He paused when Marinette didn't leave the apartment, eyes still scanning the room. His voice softened. "Marinette?"

She startled, as though she hadn't realized that she had checked out for a moment, and then reached over and took his hand, smiling up at him as she did. "I'm fine. I'm just really tired from all of the cleaning today and I just zoned out for a second."

He scanned her expression. She looked exhausted, almost like she was going to fall asleep standing up. Hopefully she could make it through the shower before falling asleep. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Let's go home."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Hadn't planned on writing this at all but someone mentioned that they wanted to see what the kwamis were up to during the spa day and my imagination just took off!_

 _I would like to mention that my knowledge of the Bath spa is entirely limited to what I could find on their website and extrapolation from the assorted hot springs that I've visited in the past and so it might not be entirely accurate._

* * *

Plagg had not been looking forward to the spa day, not at all. There had been all sorts of talk of swimming and massages and couple-y activities that were _sure_ to make Adrien and Marinette all mushy and gross together. They seemed to be looking forward to it, for sure.

But what was in it for him? Cats didn't like water, and he would no doubt be instructed to stay in Adrien's cramped, smelly bag with only a few pieces of cheese to tide him over during the _hours and hours_ that Adrien and Marinette spent having fun. To make matters worse, Adrien's bag would no doubt be in a locker in a _very_ warm locker room, thanks to the heat from the spa.

Plagg liked heat, sure, but there was such thing as _too much_ , particularly when it came to being in confined spaces.

 _And_ when it came to cheese. Particularly cheese that was not _meant_ to be warm, not unless it was being baked.

So it was a grumpy Plagg that got dragged along to the spa, and he was still sulking when they got there and checked in.

But then Adrien said the most glorious words known to mankind: "No, you can go out."

There was more, of course- blabber about not getting spotted (what did Adrien think he was, an amateur?) and something about a kitchen (Plagg was _definitely_ going to have to check that out), but Plagg didn't catch it. He was already too excited.

He didn't have to stay in Adrien's bag. He could get up to all _kinds_ of fun.

...he had no idea where to start.

Adrien and Marinette left, and Plagg wasted no time in following. Tikki floated along behind him, watching for any other spa visitors.

Well, good. That meant that Plagg didn't have to pay any attention to his surroundings. He could explore to his heart's content, and Tikki would do all of the work of keeping them unseen.

"Ooh, it's warm down here," Tikki said happily as they turned into another hallway. "Not _too_ much, like in a sauna. But it's lovely."

Plagg was already reconsidering his position on going in the water as he flew through the mist above it. It was lovely and warm, not cold at all, and he _loved_ warm things.

There were _some_ cats that liked water, he supposed. He would at least stick a foot in, just to see if it felt as lovely as it looked. And if it was...

Well, going in and splashing Tikki might be fun. She _definitely_ wouldn't go in the water on her own, not unless he taunted her into it. Of that, Plagg was certain.

"Oh, and look at those windows! It's such a lovely view."

Plagg looked. There were nice wide ledges bathed in sunlight, perfect for naps in the sun.

"And they have signs everywhere! I don't think we could get lost at all."

Plagg looked at that, too. There was a sign pointing towards the dining area, and if he perked up his ears and sniffed, he could hear the chefs already at work- and _yes,_ he could definitely smell cheese.

Plagg had changed his mind. This wasn't horrible at all.

It was _heaven._

* * *

Tikki dipped between the sheets of water spraying out from a shower-like structure above her, enjoying the steam and droplets of warm water that hit her. After a damp, chilly winter, this gentle warmth was _heaven_.

(Not that Adrien and Marinette's apartment had been cold or anything! It had been fine. But Marinette walked to work, took the bus all over, and ran all over on her errands to the fabric store, and that meant a fair amount of time spent outside. Besides, she and Adrien had both been keeping their windows open more and more often now, and while the air that came in wasn't _cold_ , it wasn't warm, either.)

Tikki flew around the fountain again to go through one more time, glancing over to check on Plagg as she did. Her counterpart was lazing on the sill of one of the spa's large windows, high up enough that no one would be able to see him from below but still well within the warm, swirling steam. He had claimed his spot early on and hadn't moved since.

That was probably for the better, honestly. Tikki had expected to spend nearly the entire time keeping Plagg from raiding the kitchens, but she had been able to relax as well and play in the water as much as she wanted.

Humming, Tikki spiraled through the warm water, splashing as she did. Normally she wasn't big on being in the water- after all, water normally tended to be cold- but this was properly fun.

Maybe not she-could-do-it-for-six-hours fun, but _definitely_ enjoyable for the time being.

Across the pool, their humans were splashing each other. Tikki considered splashing Plagg- or, well, either dripping on him or squirting a mouthful of water at him- and then thought better of it. Plagg wasn't making a nuisance of himself right now, and it would be better to keep it that way.

Adrien and Marinette moved on, and Tikki considered exploring some of the other pools. Plagg didn't look like he was going to go anywhere anytime soon, and now Tikki was curious about what other cool things the spa had.

On one hand, she _had_ assured Adrien and Marinette that she would keep an eye on Plagg and keep him out of trouble. On the other hand, hard-working kwamis deserved a day off too, right? Plagg knew how he was expected to behave, and he was too lazy to do much anything except sleep in the warm, sunny room.

Decision made, Tikki zipped off to go look at the signs around the room. She could go explore on her own, at least for a little bit. Plagg couldn't _possibly_ get up to that much mischief if she was only gone for an hour or two, right?

Giving a little wriggle of happiness- oh, Tikki _loved_ this place already- she zipped off to the next set of pools. This day was going to be _so. much. fun._

* * *

Plagg woke up from his nap with a yawn and a stretch. He rolled over and pawed at the air, sending the steam above him swirling. He let out a little purr of content, stretching again and then slumping back down on the warm ledge.

This was the _perfect_ place to nap. It made every other window ledge ever pale in comparison. All he needed was some snacks, and he would be set for life.

Still, even a cat god got restless sometimes, and so Plagg floated off of his lovely ledge (he would have to return, though, unless he found something even better). He glanced around on instinct, looking around for Tikki. She had to be around here somewhere, considering the fact that she had told Adrien and Marinette that she would supervise him.

Not that _he_ , an ancient god, needed supervision. Not at all. But Tikki had _said_ that she would be there, and-

And-

Plagg didn't see Tikki anywhere in the room. The fountain that she had been zipping around earlier was devoid of kwamis (though there _was_ a group of middle-aged women clustered under the spray), and there was no spot of red zipping around in the steam. In fact, Plagg couldn't sense her in the room at all.

 _Huh_. Tikki _wasn't s_ upervising him? _Sweet._

That meant that he could do _whatever he wanted._

Plagg hovered, excited. Where should he go first? There were pools and steam rooms and the dining area and all _sorts_ of options, with places to lounge and splash and eat. He spun, indecisive.

There were _too many_ options.

"All of this _deciding_ is making me hungry," Plagg complained aloud. Then he perked up. "Oh! I know, I'll go to the dining area first for a little snack, and then I'll explore, and then I'll have a _second_ snack, and then I'll take a nap followed by a proper meal.. That would be _perfect!"_

And so off Plagg went, humming merrily as he flew along.

The kitchens were not hard to find, and it was even less difficult for Plagg to slip in. A couple chefs bustled around, preparing fancy-looking plates to go out to the few customers in the dining area. They were the kind of dishes where the flairs and garnishes took up three quarters of the plate, leaving only a small bit of food in the center.

Plagg was of the opinion that it didn't matter what the food looked like, as long as there was plenty of it.

He _prowled,_ searching for the cheeses. Most wouldn't be out, of course- the humidity from the rest of the spa probably wasn't great for the cheese- but maybe he could snitch a bit from a plate, or when it was out to get some to use on a dish.

If he _really_ had to, Plagg would even go in the fridge to snitch a smidge. No one would even notice that it was missing, certainly.

Plagg saw blue cheese and perked up. A log of goat's cheese was passed to a server and his mouth watered. The aroma of a sweet, buttery cheese floated up to his nose and Plagg practically _swooned._

Oh, but they had good taste in cheese here. They were _fancy_ cheeses, not plain old grocery store cheddar. Plagg was in heaven already.

A chef turned their back to pick up the next order slip and Plagg took his opportunity. Diving down, he snagged one of the slices of cheese cut from the block and ready to go on sandwiches. The chef turned back around and Plagg hid with his treasure, flying out of sight behind a pile of bowls and other cooking equipment. He took a generous bite and chewed, humming consideringly.

It was _good_. Buttery and creamy, with a pleasant flavor. Plagg chewed, finished up his slice, and stuck his head out to see if he could maybe steal away another slice. The chef was wrapping the cheese up, though, and sticking it back in the fridge. Plagg heaved a sigh of disappointment- that was all of the cheese that he was going to get for now, apparently- and after craning his neck to get a look at the label ( _Wyfe of Bath_ ), he headed back out. With his hunger satisfied for the time being, Plagg headed out to explore.

There were outdoor pools. There were indoor pools. There were _Experience Rooms,_ whatever that meant. A hall led down to the massages area, and Plagg gave it a wide berth.

He did _not_ need to go there.

Figuring that there might be even _better_ places to nap outdoors, Plagg went there first. Only a few people were lounging in those pools- _calmly,_ not splashing at each other like _some_ gross couples that Plagg could name- but the cooler air outside coupled with the spring breeze meant that the pools were only pleasant, not blissful like the one indoors.

Well, at least that meant one fewer place for him to explore.

Plagg phased back inside, heading down the hall towards the so-called Experience Rooms. What he was supposed to experience Plagg didn't know, but hopefully it would be a good nap.

Good naps were always a _fantastic_ experience, and particularly when they were done on a full stomach.

It didn't take long for Plagg to whizz down the hallways and find his destination. He spent a moment deliberating which of the rooms to go in first, and then decided just to go in order. Plagg zipped through the first of the doors-

-and was transported into a distinctly differently-styled room, not modern like the rest of the spa at all.

Plagg blinked, glancing around the room. It was styled after a Roman bathhouse, he could tell that much. He could also see at least seven details that the builders had gotten wrong with their styling.

They weren't necessarily _critical_ details, but if any ancient Romans came in they would be able to tell that some things were off.

Granted, there was a definite shortage of ancient Romans in the modern-day world, so Plagg supposed that the spa was probably off the hook.

Another room, another architectural style. It was too damp for Plagg's taste, so he didn't linger long. The room after that was a weird glowy red. He didn't understand the attraction, but there was a handful of people sprawled out on the benches, basking in the glow.

Plagg had known that humans had strange taste, but this was new. Maybe it was just the fact that it was warm that made the room appealing or something. He did a short lap of the room, just to see if he was missing something, but nothing stuck out.

Strange, strange, _strange._

Plagg zipped across the hall and found several people standing around that room- which was normally lit, _thank goodness_ \- in what looked like very odd, artsy showers.

Adrien would probably like this room. He appreciated his showers, after all, even if he always flushed and protested whenever Plagg brought it up. But Plagg knew that Adrien took _forever_ in the shower, fussing with his hair and filling up the room with steam until the water turned cold and he had to get out.

But since Plagg was not weirdly obsessed with showers, he didn't see any reason to stick around any longer and zipped back to the hallway to dive into the second to last room, expecting more steam, more heat, more lovely _warmth._

Instead, he got slapped by biting chill.

Plagg _yowled,_ backpedaling as fast as he could to get out of the awful, _awful_ room. Who had had the great idea of making an awful _cold_ room in a spa? How was that meant to be nice and relaxing and fun? It was terrible, terrible, _terrible._ His whiskers were already frozen. Ice was starting to form in the droplets of water that covered his coat.

Oh, these _experiences_ were just getting worse and worse, they really were. Plagg eyed the final door nervously, wondering what kind of _experience_ was hiding behind it. Rotten eggs? Giant attack squid? Hail and an indoor tornado? A tsunami?

The door swung open and Plagg reflexively flinched away. A couple came out, both looking rosy-warm and relaxed. A rush of gentle warmth hit Plagg, along with the sound of quiet, relaxing music.

...that did not sound like a tsunami, or a squid, or any of the other terrible, terrible options that Plagg had dreamed up.

Bracing himself, Plagg darted through the door before it could close. He found himself in a warm, misty room, dark and lit only by what were probably meant to be constellations scattered across the rounded ceiling. Comfy-looking benches were placed around the room, artfully arranged to minimize disturbance and the probability of someone tripping into them, and only a couple were occupied. Plagg landed on one and found it delightfully warm.

He could get used to this room for sure.

Above him, constellations glittered and music flowed from hidden speakers. Heat and steam filled the space, wrapping around him like a blanket. Plagg yawned widely, then curled up in a comfortable ball.

Before long, he was fast asleep.

* * *

Tikki had been having a wonderful morning. She had flown all over the spa, relishing in the warmth and all of the different forms it came in. There were all sorts of pools, of course, and a couple gorgeous (if not _entirely_ period-accurate) steam rooms. She had poked around the massage area, mostly out of curiosity, and watched as staff gave different people different kinds of massages.

Even if Tikki couldn't get a massage herself, it was still fun to hang around. It was pleasantly warm, it smelled nice, and she got to try to guess what treatments people were getting based on what she had read in Marinette's brochure.

Most of them looked very nice and relaxing. Tikki still had some reservations about the getting-hit-by-sticks one and the massage that appeared to involve dripping melted candle wax onto the customer's body, though.

But now Tikki was back at the main pool. It had a few more people now, and so she had to be more careful as she flew across the room to Plagg's napping spot to check on him.

Plagg wasn't there.

Tikki let out a squeal of distress, all previous relaxation completely forgotten. She had _promised_ Adrien and Marinette that she would keep an eye on Plagg, she had _promised,_ and now he was nowhere to be found. He could be _anywhere,_ getting up to all _sorts_ of trouble, and she wasn't there stopping it.

This was bad. This was really, really bad.

Tikki forced herself to calm down after a minute of spinning around. She had to think about this logically. Where was Plagg most likely to go? Was there something in the spa that would be a big draw for him?

The answer was immediately obvious. _The kitchens._ Plagg had practically been drooling after Adrien mentioned it and the cheese that was sure to be there, and Tikki had been surprised that he hadn't immediately made a beeline there once Adrien and Marinette had entered the spa. He was probably there right now, absolutely stuffing his face and getting in all sorts of trouble.

Tikki let out a frustrated snarl and zipped off in the kitchens to pull Plagg away. He could nap all he wanted, as long as he was out of the way of the humans, but he could _not_ be responsible for eating pounds and pounds' worth of fancy cheese.

It wasn't hard to find the kitchens, and it was even easier to slip in undetected. Tikki choose a high cupboard for her lookout point, peering down at the workers below. It didn't take long for her to spot a chef working with cheeses, rolling a log of goat cheese in toppings. She focused on his area, sure that Plagg would make an appearance as soon as the man's back was turned.

And then he didn't. Several cheesy dishes were prepped and sent out, all without incident. A chunk of cheese was left out and unattended for several minutes, and yet none of it vanished.

Tikki frowned. Was Plagg...not there? But where else could he be?

This time, no obvious answer stuck out.

"Oh, what if he's getting in trouble and Adrien and Marinette hear about it?" Tikki fretted. "They came here to _relax_ , not to chase Plagg down! I have to find him!"

So Tikki shot off, determinedly heading back to the pools. She would check every corner of the spa to find him, and then she was _not_ going to take her eyes off of him for the rest of the visit.

Tikki checked the pools. She checked the massage area. She checked the gift shop and the check-in area. She checked the locker room, too, just to see if maybe Plagg had gone back there.

He hadn't.

"He must have gone to the Experience Rooms, then," Tikki decided, frowning. "Fine! I'll find him there then for sure!"

* * *

Plagg yawned as he woke up. He shifted, planning on going right back to sleep, but then something moved next to him.

He froze.

The distinct silhouette of a human was seated on the bench near Plagg. They stretched and then lay back, forcing Plagg to zip off before he got squished.

Well. So much for _that_ particular napping spot.

Eh, it didn't matter. Plagg could feel his stomach grumbling, which meant that it was time to go visit the kitchens again. He zipped away, phasing through the walls to shortcut his way back to that delicious, _delicious_ cheese.

This time, his haul was larger. He got more of that delicious Wyfe of Bath cheese, plus a generous scoop of goat cheese and an armful of blue cheese crumbles. When he started seeing puzzled frowns appearing on the chefs' faces when they looked at the cheese, Plagg decided that it was time to move on- for now, at least. Besides, his stomach was pleasantly full and in prime nap condition.

So Plagg headed back to the first pool, finding his lovely sunlit ledge and settling down again.

Really, this day was turning out _wonderfully._

* * *

This day was turning into a _disaster._

Tikki had checked almost all of the Experience Rooms, with the exception of the Ice Room. She didn't want to go there, and she knew that Plagg wouldn't, either. That meant that she had swept through the _entire_ spa, and still no Plagg.

What was she supposed to do?

Tikki slowly flew back to the main pool, antennae drooping. Oh, she shouldn't have flown off exploring for so long. If she had checked earlier, maybe she could have caught Plagg before he zipped off. If she had come back when she had initially planned to instead of taking her time exploring, then she probably would have been fine.

At least Tikki hadn't heard any commotion that could be attributed to Plagg. That was a relief.

The hallway opened into the main pool, bringing steam and the sound of quiet conversation and laughter with it. Tikki made sure to stay high, out of sight of the bathers below.

And then she spotted the little lump of black sprawled out on a windowsill.

" _Plagg,_ " Tikki half-snarled, making a beeline for her counterpart. "When I get my paws on you-"

Plagg popped up as she approached, yawning. "Tik? Is it time to go?"

"Is it time- no, but where have you _been_?" Tikki demanded. "I've been looking for you all over the place!"

Plagg blinked at her, puzzlement written all over his face. "...I've been sleeping?"

"All this time?"

"There's plenty of lovely places to sleep in this place," Plagg said, nodding. "I like it! D'you think that Adrien and Marinette would come back here soon?"

"No, it's too expensive." Tikki glanced around. None of the people below had noticed them yet, and she intended to keep it that way. "And where have you _been?_ I've been all over looking for you."

"Exploring the place, just like you." Plagg yawned again, grinning in the way he _knew_ would get on Tikki's nerves. "I behaved just fine without you hovering over my shoulder, thank-you-very-much."

"Well, I didn't hear anything about any issues when I was flying around," Tikki allowed. "...let's just enjoy the rest of the time we have, all right? And Adrien and Marinette don't hear _any_ of this."

"Mm-hmm. Sounds good to me." Plagg rolled back over, already bored of the conversation. "D'you wanna swing past the kitchen again before we go? I saw some of those lovely dark chocolates that you love so much in there."

Tikki held out for a couple seconds, and then gave in. She had seen the chocolate, too, but hadn't had a chance to taste, and it _had_ looked delightful. "...oh, I _suppose_."

* * *

At the end of the day, Tikki and Plagg returned to Adrien and Marinette, looking as innocent as could be. And when their Chosens asked how their day had gone, well...

Adrien and Marinette didn't need to know _everything._


	4. Chapter 4

_Outtakes no. 4, aka the chapter that used to be part of the main story but I cut it for reasons and then couldn't bear to get rid of it._

* * *

Marinette was still floating on Cloud Nine when she went into work on Monday. She and Adrien had spent the rest of Sunday cuddling and hanging out together in their (ridiculous) matching pajamas while playing video games and munching on takeout from their favorite Greek restaurant. They had gone out for a run as superheroes once it grew dark that night, and it had all been _amazing_ to get out again.

Abbey's shriek of delight brought her out of her memories.

"I see a _ring!_ " Abbey sang, practically pouncing on Marinette and holding her hand up. "Oh, that's so pretty! And it's a seamstress's ring, too. That shouldn't snag on anything."

"I heard something about a ring?" Sarah appeared around the corner and gave a little gasp of delight. "Oh! Congratulation, Mari!"

Marinette's grin only grew.

"Hang on, I thought you weren't dating anyone," Shannon said in an exaggeratedly confused voice as she popped up next to Sarah. "And _certainly_ not the Agreste boy. Surely the magazines would have said something if you were."

Marinette had to laugh at that. Oddly enough, the tabloids had been more or less leaving them alone over the past few months. "We're going to see if we can keep it on the down-low until we get home. I'd like to break the news to my parents myself, and I think that Mr. Agreste would spontaneously combust if he heard from the _tabloids_ that Adrien is engaged."

"Ah, let him combust." Madam Rosalie appeared around the corner as well, grinning widely. The others stepped back to let her pass. "Adrien told me what he was planning on Thursday so that I could get my friend to have the garden opened for you two. How did it go?"

"Well enough for her to say yes, apparently," Sarah joked. She pointed at the ring sparkling on Marinette's finger. "Adrien has _fabulous_ taste, by the way. I would have thought that he would go for a gaudy stone or something, since I know you've said that he tends to go over the top sometimes. But that's not going to get in your way at all."

Marinette grinned, nodding. Adrien had said that that had been something that he had specifically looked at when he was deciding on rings. "Yeah, he knew that large stones on normal rings would snag, so he didn't even look at those."

"Smart man."

"So was it a complete surprise?" Abbey wanted to know. "Or did you know that he was planning on proposing?"

"Well, we _had_ talked about getting married before," Marinette told her. "So we _were_ on the same page with that. But I wasn't expecting him to propose then, so it was a surprise in that way." She _had_ suspected that Adrien might propose before they left London, considering his desire to not tell anyone about their relationship even once they had passed the point of his last semester's tuition being paid for, but even with the frankly _perfect_ set-up- proposing right where they had gotten "married" before was simultaneously hilarious and romantic, considering the amazing backdrop with all of the flowers- Marinette hadn't been thinking _oh, I bet he's going to propose_. If Adrien had been nervous, he hadn't shown it at all. They had just been giggling over something stupid only minutes before they entered the last garden, and had been talking about how they were going to use up the last of their food and if they needed to do any more shopping at all. It had felt like a regular, ordinary date, which she was sure was part of Adrien's plan.

"That's so sweet!" Shannon exclaimed. "And it's good timing, too, since you won't have to keep it a secret for _that_ long before you go home."

"Oh, that's right. I can't believe that you're going to be _leaving_ soon," Abbey said mournfully. "It's going to be so different without you here. We're going to have to make your good-bye party into a combo good-bye and engagement party, because there is _not_ enough time to do two parties."

"We'll have to make it an extra-awesome party, then," Sarah chimed in. "All sorts of treats and sugary goodness and an awesome meal and everything. You aren't allowed to cook any of it. You have enough to take care of."

Marinette grinned. "You guys are the best."

"Well, it's gotta suck to not be able to tell all of your friends back home- and your parents, of course- about getting engaged right away." Shannon patted Marinette's shoulder. "Though I'm sure _that's_ going to be fun, since your parents don't even know that you were dating Adrien, do they?"

"I'm sure that they suspected that there were feelings there," Marinette admitted, remembering the little nudges and looks her parents gave each other when they saw her and Adrien together. "But not that there was a relationship. I don't think they saw enough to suspect that."

Abbey snorted. "Yeah, you two are _not_ subtle. Anyone with eyes can tell that you're close."

Marinette had to splutter at that. "We've been careful!"

"Girl, there's a reason everyone here knew about you and Adrien before you told us anything," Sarah said with a laugh. "If people back in Paris _don't_ know that you two are mad for each other, it's just because they don't see you often enough for you to give it away."

"Oh, there's no need to call her out like that," Madam Rosalie said with a laugh. "It's been fun to watch, at any rate, and I was thrilled to help. And I'm sure we'll all want to know how breaking the news goes once you're back in Paris."

Marinette grinned at the reminder. She was simultaneously nervous and excited about breaking the news back home. They _had_ avoided telling anyone pretty much because they wanted to hold off until their engagement, since it would be funnier, but at the same time Alya was going to _kill_ them for keeping it a secret.

Oh, well. At least it should be funny.

* * *

"So what do you think about maybe telling Nathalie first?" Adrien asked as he and Marinette finished up their dinner Monday evening. He had been thinking about how to best approach to breaking the news during the day, and he was starting to think that just going back to Paris and telling Mr. Agreste without any sort of cushioning was probably a recipe for disaster. "If we tell her now, maybe she can come up with some way to make sure that my father won't just blow up first and ask questions later when we tell him."

Marinette considered that. She looked a bit uncertain about it, which Adrien couldn't blame her for. While Nathalie wasn't going to blow up like his father likely would, her reaction to the news would still be a bit unpredictable. "It sounds like a good idea in theory. But what if she goes to my parents for some reason? I want to tell them and see their reactions in person."

"l can tell Nathalie to keep the news to herself, I'm sure she'll understand," Adrien promised, knowing that it was true. Besides, it would be out of character for Nathalie to go to the Dupain-Chengs when they wouldn't know any more about what was going on than he did. "But do you think it might be a good idea? To tell Nathalie and see if she can think of some way to make the news not _quite_ so out of the blue?"

"If anyone can figure out some way to do that, Nathalie can," Marinette agreed. "Though I wish the first people we tell from back home would actually be excited for us."

Adrien winced. Yeah, Nathalie _really_ wasn't an ideal person to go to if they were hoping for an excited reaction. She would probably manage to pull together a bit of excitement for them after her shock wore off, but that would be overpowered easily enough once they got home by his father's- what? Anger? Irritation?

Whatever his father's reaction would be, it wouldn't be _pleasant_. Adrien would try not to get _too_ offended by it, since his father was _never_ pleased by _any_ of the news Adrien brought him. Adrien had a job? _Ugh_. Adrien was moving to London? _Ew_. Adrien was finally standing up for himself and getting a degree that he _actually_ was interested in? Mr. Agreste didn't want to deal with it.

Once he and Marinette had finished dinner, Adrien called home. He jittered anxiously as the phone rang once, twice, three times.

"Hey, Nathalie," Adrien said cheerfully when his father's assistant picked up the phone. "Is my father around?"

"He's in a meeting right now," Nathalie informed him, and Adrien resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of _course_ his father was in a meeting, never mind that most people were long since done with work for the day. Still, that was exactly why he had called. He had known that Nathalie would be wrapping up for the day while his father worked, and so he could probably catch her alone. "Is there something you wanted to tell him before you got home? You're leaving London in five days, correct?"

"Well, I have news, but I wanted to _just_ tell you for now," Adrien said nervously. Suddenly he was wondering if this really _was_ a good idea. What if Nathalie, without knowing the whole picture, decided that he was being super-immature and told his father? It was ridiculous to think that the distance would deter Mr. Agreste if he _really_ wanted to have words. After all, his father had decided to fly over when they had the fake wedding prank. What had made him think otherwise?

"Ah." Nathalie didn't sound particularly interested. "And that news is what, exactly?"

"I'm engaged," Adrien announced, deciding that he could probably trust Nathalie to keep a secret for the next five days. "I asked Marinette to marry me yesterday, and she said yes-"

There was a thud on the other end.

"I hope that was the phone and not Nathalie," Adrien said to Marinette, who was sitting on the couch watching him. She raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?"

"Something fell. There was a thud."

Marinette looked a little concerned. "Well, it _was_ kind of without warning. They didn't know we were dating."

"I hope your parents take it better." The last thing Adrien wanted to do was make Madam Cheng or- heaven forbid, no one would be able to catch him- Mr. Dupain faint.

"At least we're waiting to tell them until we get back and can tell them in person. If we walk in there looking cuddly, it'll come as less of a surprise." There was also the fact that they had known about her crush during collège and lycée. Marinette's parents might not have said anything about it yet, but they probably _suspected_ at least something was happening between Adrien and Marinette.

Adrien gestured Marinette to be quiet as there was noise on the other end of the line as the phone was picked up off of the floor. He waited.

"I think," Nathalie managed at last, though she sounded a little strangled, "that _that_ might be the kind of news you would want to give him in person. Can you wait until you get home to make the announcement?"

Adrien grinned in amusement at the sound of her voice. He had finally taken Nathalie- Nathalie the _unshakable_ \- off guard. "Right. We weren't going to tell anyone else until we were back in Paris."

"Is- is this for real this time?" Nathalie asked a bit tentatively. "Or is this another prank?"

"It's for real," Adrien assured her, more than a little amused. He wouldn't fake _another_ marriage-related thing. If he were to pull another prank, he'd go for something else, like saying he was going to move to America or something. _That_ would inspire a lot of panic.

"But- but-" Nathalie seemed to be at a bit of a loss for words. "You haven't even been dating, though, you can't just go straight from _friends_ to _engaged_."

"We _have_ been dating, actually," Adrien corrected her cheerfully. "For two years."

"You _said_ in the interviews that you weren't." Nathalie sounded a bit frustrated. "I mean, I understand lying to keep them off of your back, but..."

"I said that _before_ we started dating," Adrien corrected her. "And then after we started dating, I evaded a lot. I asked them why they were _still_ asking me about Marinette when I had already answered their questions before, so they decided to drop it." He grinned, even though Nathalie wouldn't be able to see. "I didn't lie, exactly. I omitted. A lot."

"Omitted and evaded." Nathalie gave a long-suffering sigh. "Your father's favorite tactics when it comes to _that_ kind of press, naturally. It still would have been nice to know."

"Father wouldn't have allowed it. Never mind that I'm a grown adult completely capable of making my own decisions."

"Perhaps." Nathalie sounded so very _done_ and Adrien had to grin. She really did put up with a lot. Most of his was his father's fault, of course, but Adrien couldn't deny that he definitely had something to do with it as well. "Very well. Congratulations on your engagement, and I'll _try_ to see if I can do something before you come home to make your father more open to the idea of you being with someone. I'm assuming that's why you called to tell me now. And in the future, I would appreciate it if you could at least keep me in the loop instead of keeping things entirely secret so I could be prepared. I wouldn't have told your father."

"Right," Adrien said, trying not to roll his eyes. Nathalie had _totally_ tattled on him before, and it had resulted in him getting in a lot of trouble. "Thanks, Nathalie."

"Good-bye, Adrien."

Marinette looked a bit amused as Adrien hung up and rolled his eyes at her. "What did she say?"

"That she'll try to think of some sort of lead-in so that my father is more open to the idea. I didn't even have to ask." Adrien grinned, then paused when he remembered something. "Oh, _shoot_. I forgot to ask her to not tell anyone. I mean, I don't think she'll go to your parents, since I _did_ say that we weren't telling anyone else."

"I think that'll be fine," Marinette said. She grinned. "I can't believe she _dropped the phone_. That's hilarious."

"I hope we can get other people to react like that," Adrien said with a laugh. "If we can, it's gonna make _everything_ entirely worth it."

* * *

Ben followed Paul up the stairs at Adrien and Marinette's building, a bit of a spring in his step. He was glad that he would get to see the two of them again before they left, because Adrien was a great friend and he would miss getting to chat with him about Physics stuff. They could call each other, but it wasn't the same as getting to hang out over lunch when his break coincided with Adrien's.

They would have to visit each other sometimes. It probably wouldn't happen right away, since he was on entry-level pay at the moment and Adrien would be as well, but eventually. Maybe once he made enough to get a car he could make a road trip out of it.

"It's nice of them to invite us over," Paul commented as he and Ben rounded the last section of stairs and got to Adrien and Marinette's floor. "They have to be _crazy_ busy packing. They're both leaving on Saturday, right?"

"I _think_ so. And with them having two apartments to pack? Awful." Ben wasn't sure how Adrien had managed handling the end of the semester while simultaneously getting ready to move back to Paris. There had been a lot of deciding what could and could not go back during their other trips to Paris over the semester. At least Adrien had given himself a week after graduation to finish packing up and cleaning. Apparently Marinette was working until Friday and then would be on the Eurostar with Adrien the very next day.

"I couldn't do it, but they seemed to think it was a good idea." Paul knocked on Adrien's door. "I just want to know how on earth they can clean anything when they're still living there. I wanna know what kind of magic they're using for when I finally move out of my parents' house."

"They might be keeping packed bags in one of Marinette's coworker's places," Ben pointed out. From inside of the apartment, they could hear footsteps as someone came to the door. "Just to keep them out of the way. Or they could just be moving stuff back and forth between their apartments so that they can vacuum and whatnot."

Before Paul could respond, the door flew open and Adrien grinned at them. "Hey! You're here!" He stepped back to let the two of them in, still grinning. "Sorry about the mess. We're kind of in the middle of packing right now."

"It really has gotten bare in here," Ben commented, glancing around. He wasn't sure what _mess_ Adrien was referring to, unless he was talking about the pile of bags and boxes in the corner. Everything else was clean and devoid of clutter. "It's strange. I'm used to it looking pretty lived in."

Adrien made a face, nodding. "It feels strange to live in, too. It just feels so impersonal."

"Is Marinette's flat the same, then? It must be." Paul glanced around and then pointed to the boxes and bags stacked neatly near the couch. "Are you bringing that all back to Paris in one trip? You must be, right?"

"Some of it is Marinette's," Adrien pointed out, and- okay, yeah, how he had missed the pink bag in the pile, Ben didn't know. That was pretty obviously Marinette's. "And there are a few light things that we're shipping. And then Marinette might be leaving some stuff and then making a trip back to pick them up later on. Her coworkers offered to hold on to a few things for her."

"I think they just like the idea of being able to hold stuff hostage so that they can see me again," Marinette joked, emerging from the bedroom and heading up the short hallway towards them as Ben and Paul shucked their shoes at the door. "But yeah, it's super nice of them. And Abbey took the sewing table that I bought for her own flat, so I don't need to worry about what to do with that."

"I'd offer my family's house for temporary storage as needed, but, well, you know my sister." Paul shrugged at Adrien. "She'd probably try to, like, dig through and take something just because it belonged to you."

Adrien clearly winced at the idea. "Yeah, thanks, I'll pass."

"Overall it looks like you're doing a pretty good job, though," Ben said, pulling the conversation back on track. "You have, what, three days left before you leave?"

Adrien nodded. "Yeah. It's getting really close."

"Everything I'm doing at work now is wrapping up projects and making sure that I'm not leaving any loose ends," Marinette chimed in. "It's not as fun as starting new stuff. And there's a few new projects being tossed around, and I've heard a few things about them and they sound like _so_ much fun."

"You'll find new projects to work on," Adrien assured her. "And you _do_ have your commissions, too."

Paul glanced over at Marinette. "Oh, did you get a job back home? Congrats!"

Marinette shook her head. "No luck. There weren't any positions open at any of the places I was interested in. But I have commissions, and a website about to go live once I get home."

Both Ben and Paul nodded. Ben had seen some of the things that Marinette made, and even though he wasn't into fashion at _all_ , he had to admit that they were _super_ cool. If she wasn't getting hired, it was probably more due to a lack of jobs she was interested in rather than not being qualified.

It didn't take long for them to get settled down on the furniture. Adrien had set out some chips as a snack as they chatted, waiting for dinner to finish cooking. Ben asked about what Adrien knew about his lab right now, and he and Paul compared noted about what they had been told about their respective jobs. Before long, though, the topic of conversation turned back to the impeding move.

"We probably should have just rented a van or something and driven it back to Paris," Adrien admitted with a laugh. "But we've had our tickets for the Eurostar for forever, so I guess we'll just have to be those annoying people with a ton of luggage. I wouldn't want to try to drive a rental car in Paris anyway."

"I can help you get stuff to the station," Ben offered. "And once you get there, I think they have carts you can borrow."

"Oh, that would be _fantastic_." Marinette grinned at him as she got up for more chips. She picked up her plate and as she did, Ben caught sight of a ring glittering on her finger.

It didn't look like the decorative rings that some people wore, the _just-because_ jewelry. Marinette didn't seem to really wear _just-because_ jewelry, and that looked like an engagement ring. Which, uh...

Ben glanced at Adrien and Marinette again. Had he misunderstood something? He had thought that _both_ Adrien and Marinette were going back to Paris but if Marinette had gotten engaged to someone in London, then wouldn't she stay here? Unless her fiancée was moving to Paris as well, in which case that had to be a _really_ big production, having _them_ move as well.

He hadn't realized that Marinette was dating anyone. Ben had always thought that Adrien and Marinette would probably end up together once they had both gone back to Paris and Adrien's father wasn't trying to ban Adrien from dating. They were obviously close, closer than Ben had ever been with any of his past girlfriends, and now...

Maybe he was reading things wrong, or somehow coming to the wrong conclusion. Maybe Marinette had been modeling rings at work or something and forgot to take one off. Maybe there was something else going on. He wasn't going to ask and make a fool of himself for coming to the wrong conclusion, though, so Ben said nothing.

Paul would probably notice too, right? _Especially_ with the way that the light was catching that ring. And since Paul tended to blurt out whatever he was thinking

"Okay, I gotta ask about the bling on Marinette's finger," Paul said a couple minutes after that, nodding towards the ring on display on Marinette's lap. The look he gave Marinette and Adrien was deeply suspicious, which Ben could understand. "Are you trying to screw with the tabloids, or is there something that you want to share with the class?"

Adrien grinned. He looked curiously happy for someone whose best friend was apparently getting married to someone who wasn't him. "Yeah! We're engaged."

...okay, apparently Adrien's best friend _was_ getting married to him, despite the fact that they had given absolutely no indication of having any sort of relationship before.

What. On. _Earth._

Paul goggled. Ben was sure that his jaw was somewhere on the floor. " _Dude_. What even-? But you weren't even dating- or were you?"

"We were, we just didn't publicize it." Adrien reached over to take Marinette's hand, and the way they entwined their fingers was _so_ comfortable. Clearly it wasn't the first time they had done that, not by far. "Because of my father and his ridiculous rules. And now I'm graduated and he can't do anything about what _I'm_ doing with _my_ life."

" _Dude_ ," Ben said after a moment, taken completely off guard. Whatever he had been expecting, he hadn't thought _oh, yeah, these two would TOTALLY decide to do a secret relationship!_ He had assumed that if they said _oh, we're not dating_ , then they weren't dating, end of story. "Okay, point taken, never believe anything you say. I thought for a minute there that Marinette must have been dating someone else here in London and gotten engaged to _them_. And I was like, wow, that must suck for you because anyone with eyes could see that you were head over heels for her."

Adrien had to laugh at that. "No, thankfully that's not the case. Marinette is _my_ fiancée, and I couldn't ask for anyone better."

"You _two_ , really- I can't decide if you're relationship goals or just straight-up ridiculous." Ben shook his head, more amused now that he knew what was going on. It must have taken some _serious_ commitment to keep something like a serious relationship secret from everyone, just for- what? The sake of making it into a bit of a prank? "You could have mentioned something earlier, you know."

"They're _both_ goals and completely nutty," Paul chimed in. He grinned at Adrien and Marinette. "You're absolutely bonkers. My mom would _kill_ me if I hid a relationship from her for two years and then randomly popped up engaged."

"We were going to tell people earlier, once it was too late for my father to pull any funding, but by that point I was planning on proposing," Adrien explained, as though _that_ somehow made his train of thought more reasonable. "And then I figured, why not just wait until then to mention anything? It was more amusing that way, too."

"You are _so_ dead, dude."

Ben just shook his head at them, amused.

"We didn't tell anyone because we didn't want to risk it getting out," Marinette chimed in. She glanced over. "We _did_ tell my team at work and my boss, but that was because Abbey was moving in to my old flat and we needed for her to cover for us. And of course our team visits each other, so they knew that Abbey was moving into my old place."

"And her boss helped me set up the proposal," Adrien said. "Because she had the connections I needed to do the proposal I wanted to do. We didn't _mean_ to exclude everyone else, really. We were just playing it safe."

Paul was shaking his head. "No, I get it," he told them. "If I had known that you two were dating, I probably would have used that information to shut my sister up one of the times she started going on about she thinks that you and her are meant to be. And if _she_ knew, it would be all over within an hour." He grinned. "Oh, how I'm looking forward to breaking the news. Only after you're back in Paris," he assured Adrien. "I can hold out for that long, at least."

Ben stared at Paul. "Your sister sounds like a complete _horror._ "

"Oh, you have no idea."

"Think of the stereotype of obsessed fangirl, and you have his sister," Adrien chimed in. "Hopefully she grows out of it."

"She's going to _freak_ when she finds out that you're officially off the market," Paul said. "Can you text me when you've broken the news? I want to see my sister's face. She's had stars that she was crushing on get involved with people before, but she knew that they were out of her league anyway."

"Or too old," Adrien suggested. Paul nodded in agreement.

"Or too old for her."

"Congratulations, by the way," Ben said, keeping the conversation from veering _completely_ off when he realized that, with all of the surprise, he hadn't actually congratulated his friends. "I'm not surprised that you two ended up together, even if you decided to do it in, like, _the_ most unconventional way possible."

"Oh! Yeah, duh." Paul smacked his forehead. "Congrats! You two crazies deserve each other."

Adrien and Marinette both had to laugh at that. "Thanks, I think."

* * *

Nathalie paused at the door to Gabriel's office. She could turn back now and not go through with the lie she had so carefully cultivated and leave Adrien to deal with the consequences of his surprise engagement on his own, like a proper adult. She was under no obligation to _manipulate_ his father into believing that it would be beneficial for Adrien to be dating (or engaged, for that matter). She was Gabriel's secretary and Adrien's- well, Adrien's keeper when he was younger, but he had quite grown out of that- not the family peace-keeper. She didn't have to do this.

She turned the door handle and entered Gabriel's office.

Gabriel looked up as she entered. "Nathalie." His gaze dropped to the magazine she clutched in her hand and his brow furrowed. "Has Adrien ended up in the tabloids again?"

"Not by any wrongdoing of his own," Nathalie assured Mr. Agreste hastily, keeping her tone controlled as she strode across the room. She couldn't let him suspect anything. "It's, well..."

She held out the magazine and Mr. Agreste took it. He scanned the cover page in an instant and his expression immediately turned sour. Nathalie held her breath. Either this would work, or...

"They think that he's _not interested in women_ just because every article about him dating has been denied and debunked? What kind of sensationalist nonsense is this?"

"To be fair, sir, most men of his status and age have been on at least a _few_ dates," Nathalie pointed out as her employer glared at the magazine cover. "He's not eighteen anymore. Many of his peers are either dating, engaged, or married."

Gabriel glanced back up at her before flipping to the article the cover had advertised and glaring at that as well. "I suppose. Perhaps I should have you create a list of eligible women that Adrien could be seen on dates with, but that can wait until Adrien returns."

Nathalie was going to count that as a success. "Very well, sir."

"And if this tabloid tries to print anything else regarding Adrien, do look into libel laws. Speculating about someone's sexual orientation is crossing a line." Gabriel handed the magazine back to Nathalie and looked back at his desk. "That is all."

"Of course, sir." Nathalie retreated as fast as she had come, closing the door quietly behind her before letting herself give a little fist pump. She- well, of _course_ she hadn't expected that _not_ to work, because she knew Mr. Agreste well after working for him for over a decade and knew how to take advantage of his biases, but still. Mr. Agreste could be as unpredictable as a summer storm, and he had an uncanny eye for picking out fakes.

And of course, the article _had_ been a fake. While there _were_ tabloids that would gladly stoop to the level of trying to out celebrities, the one that Nathalie had used would not.

She had called in some favors and now needed to persuade Adrien and Marinette to give an interview to the editor who had helped her make the fake magazine. She hadn't wanted to, of course- involving the _tabloids_ in any sort of personal business was risky- but despite the number and variety of skills Nathalie had acquired over the years, she wasn't very skilled in Photoshop, couldn't write a fake tabloid article to save her life, and wasn't entirely positive where she could get her hands on magazine paper and a printer that could handle that paper. She had had to search out an old friend from university at one of the more reputable tabloids to do the job for her. Most of the magazine was real, of course, but the blurb on the cover had been photoshopped in and one article replaced by the one about Adrien.

It would be less risky that way, Nathalie's friend had told her. Gabriel might have seen the magazine in passing and known that it existed, though a smaller headline would be easier to miss. It also had been cheaper than commissioning a whole new magazine just to trick Mr. Agreste into letting his son date.

She could only hope that it would help.


	5. Chapter 5

Gabriel had had a plan for how Adrien's life would go, ever since his son turned eight and Gabriel knew what he could accomplish and be if he was molded and steered in the right direction. It was a good plan, all of the details ironed out and put in place with a mind for Adrien's future success and happiness.

He would pick up Mandarin, after mastering English and Spanish. He would be active, winning awards from basketball and karate and fencing. He would be accomplished, talented at playing the piano for a cultured crowd and above age level in his studies. He would know world history and be up-to-date with fashion trends and know who to pay attention to in order to make the right connections. He would have impeccable manners and handsome looks, and everyone would admire him as Adrien came into adulthood.

The first hitch came when it became apparent that, unlike his parents, Adrien had no flair for designing. His drawings were... well, childish, despite the art classes that Gabriel had insisted he take as a child. Emilie had been the one to allow Adrien to discontinue those courses after he complained about not liking it, which Gabriel hadn't been thrilled about. But she had been right- they had both been drawn to art from a young age, and the fact that Adrien _wasn't_ suggested that designing simply wasn't his calling. Besides, the drawings that Adrien had done had been utterly unimaginative, drawings of what he had seen instead of inspiration for what could be.

But Adrien _was_ showing a head for numbers and an ability to pose and model, and so Gabriel simply altered his son's life plan. Instead of design school and a place as a lead designer in the company, Adrien would start modeling early and then take business school when the time came. He could still be the head of _Gabriel_ once Gabriel retired, keeping the business part of the company in hand and leaving the actual designing to others. It would be a good set-up, since Adrien would earn a generous salary quickly, acquiring savings that his peers could only dream of.

If all went to plan, Adrien would graduate from the younger grades early, heading straight into business school and balancing it with his modeling with all of the ease that Emilie and Nathalie were working hard to drill into him. He would be popular, but undistractable as he graduated with his degree at only twenty years old. There would be a few months of an internship, perhaps, just to stave off talk of favoritism, and then Adrien would rocket through the ranks of the company until he worked under only Gabriel and Emilie. He would meet a woman when he was well established in his career- twenty-seven or twenty-eight, perhaps, old enough to be established but not old enough that the bachelor status wouldn't be regarded as a positive thing anymore- and then get married, with his parents designing the outfits for the entire wedding party. They would have a child, a golden-haired Agreste heir, and that child would grow up just like Adrien, well on the track to success.

And then Emilie vanished, and _that_ was when Gabriel's well-laid plans started to go off of the rails. An injury in karate meant that Adrien had to be pulled from that before he could further harm himself. Adrien insisted on going to public school, where his tutors couldn't continue to push him ahead of the curve. He got distracted by new friends and got his first crush.

Gabriel had hoped that it would be a full decade more before Adrien started to get his head turned by women. Fortunately, the crush was on a superhero, and therefore she was out of reach and Adrien's pining was a harmless celebrity crush. Still, it was only a matter of time, surely. Adrien had some perfectly nice-looking classmates both in collège and lycée, and unlike Ladybug, they were accessible.

Still, Gabriel's plan stayed _largely_ on track. Adrien was a popular model already by sixteen, and there was talk about him even starring in some movies in the future once he had finished university. He was top of his class, and was fluent in Mandarin (and English, and had at least a decent understanding of Spanish), and a star player in basketball and fencing. His piano was fabulous, and Gabriel had even had him play at the runway for a couple years before his son reached the age and height to be able to join the other models on the runway. Adrien applied and got into business school, and flew through while balancing an increasingly heavy modeling load, even modeling for other companies that weren't Gabriel's direct competitors. He graduated-

-and _that_ was where Gabriel ran into an unforeseen snag. Adrien had evidently decided that a business degree- the business degree that his parents had been preparing him for for his _entire life-_ just wasn't enough for him, and so he had applied to a school in London to get a Physics degree.

Not even a school in _Paris_. No, Adrien wanted to leave and go to _London_ , of all places, opting to stay a student instead of sliding into the fast-track job that his father had prepared for him.

Gabriel tried to talk him out of it. He pointed out every logical point of _why_ Adrien shouldn't go, why he should just stay and _not_ move to another country and get another (completely unnecessary) degree, but his stubborn son just wouldn't listen to him. No doubt his so-called _friends_ had his ear, insisting that he cling to his completely unnecessary dream instead of thinking _logically_.

He had _known_ that he should have insisted that Adrien be sent to a private school instead of going to public school when his son pushed to end his homeschooling. No doubt the company that Adrien would have found at a private school would be more inclined to listen to logic and know that going into business was a _much_ better route than going for some low-paying Physics job.

Nathalie had talked Gabriel into a compromise of sorts- if he let Adrien go and even helped fund the little spurt of rebellion, then Adrien would try out the degree, realize that it wasn't what he had expected, and come home. If Gabriel continued to dig in his heels, then Adrien would turn up the stubborn as well and insist on finishing up the degree just out of spite. So Gabriel backed down, but only _just_.

Surely he could make his son see reason. He wasn't going to sabotage Adrien's arrival in London, though. If he cancelled Adrien's apartment or didn't have Nathalie sort other moving details out, that could put Adrien in danger, and he _wasn't_ going to let anything happen to his son.

But even with his conviction that Adrien would drop the program in short order, Gabriel couldn't help but think up worst-case scenarios.

Adrien might decide to finish the program and spend three years away. He might get a Physics job in London and permanently relocate there. He might not finish the degree but find a woman to date there, and knowing Adrien's romantic tendencies, he would agree to move there and get a job in Business in London instead of bringing her back to Paris. Adrien might go a little crazy with his newfound freedom in London and get picked up by the gossip rags there, the ones that were widely considered to be some of the worst in the world. He could get in _so_ much trouble, and there would be no way for Nathalie and Gabriel to do damage control in time to do any good from all the way over in Paris.

So perhaps he went a little over the top with a list of rules for Adrien but _really_ , they were all common-sense rules. Ones that were in place to protect Adrien. _Really_.

After all, if Adrien were serious about the degree, surely he wouldn't want to get distracted by a relationship, right? He would stick his nose in a book and study like a good boy.

Except Gabriel didn't take into account Adrien's streak of mischief, or his annoyance at being given a list of rules. The fake marriage had sent Gabriel into a tailspin, scrambling to try to fix it before Adrien ruined his life. It was a prank, of course, but Gabriel _had_ learned one thing, something that kept him up at night worrying.

One of Adrien's longtime friends had already chosen to move to London and had a job there. To make matters worse, she lived _right next to Adrien_ , literally _just_ across the hall from him, which meant that they saw each other all the time.

Gabriel could see the probability of Adrien staying in London rising by the minute. Adrien's friend- Marinette, Gabriel thought she was called- might persuade Adrien to stay in London with her long-term instead of returning to Paris. She would lessen the chances that Adrien would get homesick and move back to Paris, and she no doubt was one of the friends encouraging Adrien to stick with his Physics degree, so there was less of a chance that he would get frustrated and drop out without working on it.

And Gabriel could see the fond way that Adrien looked at his friend. If they spent _too_ much time together, the chances of Adrien falling in love with her would be pretty high. And though they _could_ move back to Paris- after all, Marinette was a native French speaker- she _did_ already have a job at Madam Rosalie's fashion house and if the conversations that he had had with his wife's old friend were anything to go by, it was a _very_ good fit.

As in, Marinette would probably stay there and if Adrien fell in love ( _when_ Adrien fell in love, because who was he kidding? Adrien was _clearly_ already fond of Marinette), then he would get a job in London just to stay with her, and Gabriel would barely ever see his son. The last bits of his plans for Adrien- the dropping Physics and returning to business at _Gabriel_ , the modeling until Adrien had aged out- would fall to bits. There would be no family legacy unless he tried to foist the fashion house off on Adrien in his will (and what would the point of _that_ be, if Gabriel weren't there to see the transition and make sure that Adrien wouldn't just sell the fashion empire?). There would be no molding his grandchild to follow in his footsteps, either, not at that distance.

And if he just had to guess, Gabriel assumed that Marinette would do all of her own designing for her wedding and her future family. Maybe Adrien would continue modeling, but it would be for Madam Rosalie's fashion house, not _Gabriel_.

All of his work was falling to bits, and there was nothing that Gabriel could do to stop it. Nathalie had warned him that pulling Adrien's funding could easily lead to an unrepairable rift between father and son, and there was no way to change Adrien to another building without his permission. After all, Adrien was an _adult_.

Gabriel grumbled at that. Adrien had been _much_ easier to wrangle as a child, so eager to do the things that his parents wanted.

He wondered if they could have kept Adrien on his plan if Emilie hadn't vanished.

After the wedding prank, things just kept on coming up in London. Tabloids were running pieces about Adrien and his friend, and Gabriel had to apply pressure to make sure that Adrien would take care of the mess that he had created. It was clear that Adrien wasn't happy about it- no doubt he would prefer that Nathalie and Gabriel clean up after his stunt, Gabriel thought sourly- but he did it.

Gabriel could still get his son to do _some_ things, it seemed. That was a relief, even if Adrien seemed to be trying to stay in London as much as possible, away from Paris. He was even modeling for Madam Rosalie's house.

It seemed like Gabriel's worries were coming true. Adrien was getting integrated into things over in London, setting up the connections he would need for a longer stay there.

There were more tabloids, more articles romantically linking Adrien and Marinette. Gabriel called Adrien up every time, heart in throat, terrified that _this_ time, the papers would be right and Adrien would _never_ return to Paris. They were never right- well, not that Adrien admitted, anyway- and Gabriel always beat himself up a little bit for paying attention to them, but they were getting a bit _too_ close to his worries.

He had already lost his wife. He didn't want to lose his son, too, but Adrien was drifting away too far, too fast.

Then Adrien decided to get a summer job in London, a position using his Business degree. Gabriel had argued, pointing out that it would make _much_ more sense for Adrien to come back to Paris for the summer and work at _Gabriel_. Adrien could see what it would be like to work at _Gabriel_ , and perhaps he would decide to stay, away from the allures of London and the wide smile of his friend who lived there. But Gabriel's arguments were to no avail, and Adrien accepted the office job.

At least he _had_ agreed to come back and do some summer photoshoots before starting the job, though. Adrien was still willing to be part of his father's company, and that was a _huge_ relief.

Despite Gabriel's best efforts, Adrien went back to university for a second year, then a third. He got a summer Physics job between the two of them and slowly, slowly, Gabriel began to admit that there was probably very little chance of Adrien returning to Business as a career.

At least Adrien hadn't started dating that friend of his. As far as Gabriel knew, Adrien would be returning to Paris and moving back into the mansion.

There was no reason for Adrien to decide to live elsewhere, after all. Apartments in Paris weren't exactly cheap- particularly the high-end ones that were fitting for an Agreste- and whatever job in the Physics field that Adrien might have been able to snag surely wouldn't comfortably cover that, even if Adrien _was_ going to be modeling as well.

Gabriel sent Nathalie a quick reminder that he wanted to have a whole slew of outfits ready for Adrien to get fitted when he got back. There was no point in him sitting around while he looked for a position, after all.

When Gabriel heard that Adrien was back in Paris and had arrived at the mansion, it was as though a mountain of stress had fallen off of his shoulders. Adrien hadn't stayed in London after all, which was what Gabriel had worried and worried about.

Of course, his worries weren't entirely gone. He had only learned a couple days prior that apparently remaining entirely single until one's late 20s was no longer in style, which meant that Adrien's image was in danger and as _Gabriel's_ main model, his image was important. That change was ridiculous and annoying- Gabriel had remained single until his early 30s, when he met Emilie when she modeled for him, and there hadn't been a single comment then- but entirely fixable. A couple short stints of dating- or appearing to date, anyway- would put the press off, and if not, well, that was what Nathalie was for.

And then, when Gabriel called Adrien into his office to welcome him home and instruct him to get settled, his son had a huge bombshell to drop on him.

"Father, I wanted you to meet my fiancée, Marinette."

His _fiancée_. They had been dating after all, keeping it a secret and out of the tabloids as much as they could. A secret from _him_.

Just like he feared, Marinette was going to whisk his son back to London, where Gabriel would only rarely get to see him. There would no doubt be a switch from modeling with _Gabriel_ to modeling with _Rosalie_ , and- and-

And then Adrien mentioned the curveball that apparently shouldn't have been a curveball at all: Marinette's presence in London hadn't been permanent at all. They were _both_ coming back to Paris, and Gabriel breathed easier.

Well, _mostly_. Apparently his son- his handsome, innocent son- was going to be sharing Marinette's old room at her parents' house until the two of them found an apartment to move into in Paris. Gabriel protested- he and Emilie hadn't moved in together until after the wedding, after all- but apparently Adrien couldn't be persuaded to stay at home until he was actually married.

The choice to stay at the Dupain-Cheng home was truly an odd one, if Gabriel thought about it. The Agreste mansion had _far_ more room, including guest rooms for Marinette to choose from while they were there.

"He _is_ an adult, Gabriel," Nathalie reminded him as Adrien left the mansion, hand-in-hand with Marinette. They were clearly close, the picture of young romance."He's going to be making his own decisions now, and it's not going to go over well if you try to direct him, particularly if you want to direct him away from what he _wants_ to do."

Gabriel knew that, deep down inside. That didn't mean that he wasn't going to be irritated by it.

"Being an adult hardly means that he's suddenly _mature_ ," Gabriel sniffed, turning his attention away from the security camera footage as Adrien and Marinette headed out of range of the cameras' view. "This surprise engagement nonsense- that's something a _kid_ would come up with. He should have told us that they had started dating."

"Sir, with all due respect, you _did_ forbid dating."

"So that he wouldn't run off with some English girl, obviously," Gabriel sniffed. "Had he made it clear that Marinette was going to be coming back to Paris once he finished with school and she finished her internship, I would have approved it from the start. She would bring him back here to stay. An anchor, of sorts." He paused. "Do you think she would accept if I offered her a position at _Gabriel_? I could keep an eye on them that way."

Nathalie's expression went even flatter. "Not if you phrase it that way, sir. And if she didn't apply for the opening that we had for the designer position, I'm assuming that her answer will be 'no' no matter what."

"She might have just not advanced enough for me to see the portfolios. It was _quite_ a competitive field." Suddenly focused, Gabriel headed for his computer to ask for a list of names of all of the applicants, just to see what his chances of success were, if Nathalie's hunch was correct.

He would still _ask_ , of course- Gabriel could be _very_ persuasive, it was how he got his fashion empire started after all- but he liked to know more about his targets before approaching them.

Once the email was sent and both Nathalie and Gerald had left for the night, Gabriel went to wash up for bed, planning on how he was going to approach Marinette and persuade her to join _Gabriel_ for the good of the company and the Agreste family (as long as she hadn't been hired elsewhere, of course). He went to bed with a smile on his lips, new plans for Adrien and his bride-to-be dancing in his head.

Marinette, advancing to head designer. The fashion papers, singing the praises of fashion's new power couple, designer and model. _Gabriel_ getting to stay in the family, except with an interested party. Adrien eventually leaving his Physics job so that he could work in the same company as his wife, and their child following in Marinette's footsteps. Probably not golden-haired- Marinette's hair was too dark for that to be a high probability- but between her and Adrien, the genetics would be _gorgeous_. They would go into modeling first, then start designing- all with their Grandpa Gabriel's oversight, of course- he would pay for art classes as Christmas presents, maybe- before joining the company.

Perhaps it wasn't quite what he had initially planned or expected, but this new future looked bright.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Last Outtakes chapter and then we get back to the main story!_

 _I figured that since I started with a Chloe chapter, I would end the Outtakes with one too. She...has not grown up._

* * *

Chloe had been eagerly counting down the days until Adrien returned to Paris, looking up the last day of his term and his graduation day so that she would know when to expect him back _home_. It would take him a few days to pack up, probably- her daddy said that moving countries was _really_ hard, and Chloe had looked around her room, thought about what moving everything in it would be like, and agreed- and then he would be back in Paris.

While Adrien had responded to her congratulations about graduation, he hadn't said when he would be back. Chloe chalked that up to him being busy and waited _very_ patiently, planning for his return.

She would throw a party, of course. Not a _large_ one, of course- she was expected to _mingle_ with her guests now that she was a young woman, rather than just spend time with her oldest friend and let the rest of the idiots that she had to invite just to hold up appearances eat and dance as much as they wanted- but with enough people that Adrien would actually come. She would hold it in one of the upper conference rooms and invite a few of their old classmates, maybe.

Well, if she still had their contact information. Chloe had had to clean out her contacts a year ago since there were simply too many people, and a good number of them were people that she didn't care about. But that would just cut back the guest list more, which was good. Fewer guests meant fewer people for Adrien to get distracted by, when he was meant to be paying attention to _her_.

But she couldn't plan anything without knowing when Adrien would be free, so in the meantime Chloe went shopping to find the _perfect_ outfit, one that would make her utterly irresistible. After all, it had be _ever_ so long since Adrien had seen her in person, so she _really_ had to knock him off of his feet. And maybe she would have to see him in person first to ask him to the party, but Chloe never passed up the excuse to go shopping and so she didn't let minor details like that bother her.

Chloe found a backless blue dress, adorned with blue crystals that made it glimmer after several hours of browsing. She got it altered to fit her like a glove- Adrien's jaw was sure to _drop_ \- and headed back to the Grand Paris with a spring to her step. She had nearly gotten back when she spotted a _very_ familiar blond head in the crowd ahead of her, bobbing and weaving through the throngs of people. Chloe sped up, catching up to Adrien in no time flat.

"Adrikins!" Chloe exclaimed, pouncing on his and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "It's been so long! You're free now, right? We _have_ to go out on a date, just like old times!" Chloe wrapped her arm around his, already picturing where they would go. She had visited a _terribly_ romantic little diner recently, one that had lovely private booths and gorgeous lighting. If Adrien hadn't been thinking romantic thoughts about her before- and _obviously_ he had to be, at least a little bit, since they were _perfect_ for each other, and besides, distance made the heart grow fonder and all- he would be after they had spent a little time together tucked into a back booth together. "I know just the place- come on, and I can tell you what I've been doing! And then you have to come back to the hotel and see Daddy, because you haven't been in _ages_ and I _know_ that he would love to see you."

Adrien must have accidentally taken a step that was too big or something, because suddenly Chloe had to tighten grip to keep her hold on his arm. "Chloe, let _go_."

Chloe pouted. "Why? It's not _that_ warm yet, and I'm not going to wrinkle your shirt or anything," she added, getting her first proper look at Adrien's shirt. It was a plain cotton t-shirt with some _awful_ English Physics joke on it. It was _hideous,_ and _entirely_ unsuitable for _any_ sort of date. Maybe they would have to add a trip to a store before they went to the cafe, because Chloe _clearly_ had to fix Adrien's fashion taste before he got _too_ far. She couldn't have the tabloids catching her with someone dressed like _that_ , even if that person was supermodel Adrien Agreste. "Where did _this_ ugly thing come from?"

Adrien actually _ripped_ his arm away from her this time, and Chloe was left stumbling, gaping as she fought to regain her balance. Once she had found her footing, she scowled at Adrien because _really_ , where had his manners gone? Were all Londonites savages raised in a barn?

"Um, _excuse_ me," Chloe started, incensed, but Adrien cut her off.

"We have _never_ dated _nor_ gone on any dates before," Adrien told her, ice positively dripping from his words. "I really have no idea where you got the idea that we have. _Besides_ , I'm engaged now. I would appreciate it if you didn't hang on to me and try to kiss me."

He said something more, something about the shirt and his fiancée, but Chloe didn't catch it. She had frozen, her thoughts racing a million kilometers a minute.

Adrien was _engaged?_ But that- that was impossible! He was supposed to be with _her_ , and now some hussy had come in and taken what was meant to be _Chloe's_ , and- and-

Chloe was vaguely aware of her screeching and someone dragging her away from Adrien as she fought them, and then nothing. When she finally came back to herself, she was laying on her bed, tear tracks on her cheeks.

It had just been a bad dream. That _had_ to be it. Chloe wiped off her face and made a beeline for her computer, waking it up and immediately typing Adrien's name into Google. A _huge_ list of articles came up, and Chloe had to blink to clear her eyes to read them all.

 _Adrien Agreste back in Paris for good! See what Paris's favorite model has been up to!_

 _Adrien Agreste seen on date! Click here for pictures!_

 _Adrien Agreste Engaged?_

 _A Secret Engagement? Here's What We Know About Adrien Agreste and HIs Maybe-Fiancée_

 _Check out the ring on Adrien Agreste's date's finger! Secret engagement?_

 _Adrien Agreste: Shotgun Engagement and Wedding to Old Friend?_

Chloe gaped and then moved, frantically opening as many articles as she could. No, no, no. This was _still_ a bad dream. It had to be.

But all of the articles showed the same thing. Adrien, holding hands with a petite dark-haired woman. Adrien, clearly on a date with the woman. A zoomed-in shot of her finger, where a silver ring glittered.

It wasn't _that_ impressive of a ring. Chloe couldn't even make out the stone, which meant that it was lame. Maybe it was just a promise ring or something-

-except Adrien had said that he was engaged, too, but maybe he slipped up and meant that he was _going_ to get engaged but hadn't done so yet, because Adrien _definitely_ made enough money as a model to get a proper ring, one with a large stone and maybe a circle of smaller stones around the center one, too. A _big_ ring.

Except if Adrien was _planning_ on proposing, that was just as bad. He was with someone else.

Chloe turned her attention back to the computer, frantic to figure out who this woman was. Maybe Chloe could scare her away and get Adrien back. It had to be some woman that Adrien picked up in London, so maybe if Chloe made it clear that Paris wasn't going to welcome her, she would go back home with her tail tucked between her legs.

Except on second glance, Chloe _recognized_ that face. That was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and she looked all too comfortable with Adrien holding her hand, Adrien hugging her, Adrien _kissing_ her. She was one of the only people to stand up to Chloe, which meant that she would be hard to chase away. _Impossible_ to chase away, at least until Adrien realized what a mistake he was making.

Chloe refreshed the page, just in case there was any new news, and winced to see that an article had popped up featuring Adrien and "the screaming Mayor's daughter". She clicked on it angrily, because whoever the so-called _reporter_ who wrote it was _so_ asking to get fired.

She had not _screamed._ She was a nice, polite young lady who was being _denied_ what had always _meant_ to be hers, what had been _chosen_ for her when she was a child.

Scowling, Chloe reached for her phone, wasting no time in pulling up Adrien's name and messaging him, hitting the keys so hard that one misspelling appeared after another and she sent the messages anyway, too angry to care.

She was going to get Adrien back, no matter _what_ it took.

* * *

As it turned out, it was pretty impossible to win someone back when they blocked her from seeing them.

* * *

Chloe hadn't liked the idea of the cruise at first. She had had _plans_ , darn it. She was going to go to Adrien's wedding ( _ugh_ ) and object to the marriage, to keep her Adrikins from making such a big mistake. But her Daddy had talked her around to the idea eventually, pointing out the exclusivity of the cruise and all of the famous actors and singers and businessmen who frequented such cruises. There was the occasional member of a royal family, too, and, well...

If Adrien was going to be stupid, then Chloe would go find someone _smarter_ , at least until he wised up. Someone handsome and rich and smart who would pay attention to _her_ and not get distracted by other people. And there were _loads_ of young, fit, well-off men who fit those standards on the cruise, so Chloe packed her best dresses and bikinis and summery outfits and cheerfully headed off, remembering to buy some sunscreen last-minute before she hopped on the boat.

She wanted to get tan, of course, but not _burn_. Freckles and red skin weren't a good look on _anyone_.

From the moment that Chloe stepped on board, she was enamored. It just _dripped_ in wealth and luxury, and she wasn't going to be finding any low-grade, common men from off the streets on board, wasting her time by flirting with her when they had nothing to offer. Everyone was _gorgeous_ and _rich_ and _famous_.

Oh, she would fit right in. Even if she didn't find a boy-toy to play with while Adrien was off being stupid (or to _keep_ , should Adrien _not_ immediately decide that marriage with Marinette was a mistake), she would make the connections to find someone suitable.

Chloe followed the butler who had welcomed her to her room. It was a gorgeous, large room, full of lovely paintings and mirrors and a complimentary fruit and chocolates basket. There was even a bottle of wine to go with it.

Chloe inspected the label. They didn't skimp with the complimentary baskets either, it seemed. It was actually a _good_ wine.

It didn't take long for her to log into her computer, making a Facebook update about her room. She took a quick selfie to attach to the post, and then headed out to explore.

And _oh_ , she had to go on this thing _every_ year. Chloe would do all of the sponsorships that her father could find for her if it meant that she could come out and spend two weeks in utter extravagance.

Well, _almost_ all of the sponsorships, at least. She _did_ have standards, after all.

But she could worry about that later. For now, Chloe had a boat to explore.

* * *

Three days in, Chloe was still in heaven. She had met several _very_ handsome, _very_ rich movie stars that were- well, not all of them were _exactly_ her age, but they were close enough- and had gotten to show off two of her bikinis. The amazing blue dress that she had bought for the welcome-home party for Adrien that had never happened had made its proper debut at a fancy dinner the night before, and she had gotten _plenty_ of interested looks.

She would have to pick out a new target by the end of the cruise, but for now Chloe was content to flit from man to man, snapping selfies to post on Facebook and Instagram. She resisted the urge to send a few of the photos to Adrien just so that he could see what he was missing out on, but she wasn't going to waste thetime on _him,_ not anymore.

He hadn't responded to any of her texts for months now, and she wasn't on his list of friends online anymore, either. So if he was going to be immature about it, then she was going to find someone _better_ to spend her time on.

And oh _boy_ , could some of the actors on the boat give Adrien a run for his money.

Chloe sauntered across the pool deck, pulling off the light wrap she had on as she passed a couple of the men she had her eye on. She didn't look back as she passed to see if they were watching because, well, of _course_ they were, and besides, looking back would destroy the illusion of detachment and mystery. She perched on a deck chair- and she would have to talk to her father about replacing the ones that _they_ had on the pool deck at the Grand Paris, because these were _much_ more comfortable- and pulled her sunscreen out of her beach bag.

She could have put it on in her room, sure, but Chloe had long since mastered the art of seductively putting on sunscreen. Arms first, fingers curled artfully as she rubbed the sunscreen in. She moved to her shoulders, her neck, then moved to her legs.

Legs extended, feet pointed, a look of light concentration on her face. She had to make sure not to frown at all, because wrinkles were _such_ a no-no. She moved on to her stomach, her shoulders-

"Can I get your back for you?"

-and _bingo_.

Chloe smiled at the man- Charles, she thought his name was?- and handed over her sunscreen. "Oh, that would be _fabulous_."

Once her sunscreen was on, Chloe lay back in the chair, drinking in the sunshine. She chatted with Charles for a few minutes until he got pulled into a game of pool volleyball, and then she watched as eight _very_ fit men splashed around in the pool in front of her. A waitress stopped by, carrying drinks and tasty little treats for them to snack on.

This was _heaven_. Chloe _would_ have to hit the gym for a little bit later on to make sure that she stayed in shape- it would be _horrible_ to gain weight when she was wearing a bikini every day- but that was fine. There would no doubt be _plenty_ of eye candy to stare at and talk to while she was working out, which made it _so_ much more fun.

The next week and a half flew by. Chloe flirted with the men- unfortunately, some of the guys that she had initially been interested in weren't single, and one had even been married ( _whoops_ ), but there were _plenty_ that were single or in only very casual relationships- and hung out with models and actresses while sunbathing. She added _plenty_ of new contacts to her phone, and told people to come to the Grand Paris and visit her if they were in the city.

She hadn't started dating anyone, but she had several possibilities, gorgeous men with sharp jaws and lovely eyes. They were focused on being in shape for modeling and acting, which she probably wouldn't be able to say about Adrien if he _insisted_ on being a nerd and burying himself in dusty books and unflattering lab coats.

In Chloe's (admittedly limited and somewhat biased) experience, academic types tended to end up with "dad bodies", which were _not_ attractive to her in the slightest. Chloe preferred her men fit and lean, _thank-you-very-much_.

"Did you have a good time, darling?" Mr. Bourgeois asked when he picked Chloe up at the end of the cruise. "You look happy."

"Oh, it was _lovely_ , Daddy!" Chloe exclaimed as their driver accepted her luggage from the cruise butler and carried it to the waiting car. "Their pool was so nice, and the meals were _fabulous_ , and it was such _fabulous_ company- can I go _every_ year?"

Mr. Bourgeois hummed. "Well, we'll see. It's _quite_ expensive, but I think we might be able to handle it."

Chloe squealed. "Oh, thank you, Daddy! Thank you!"

And as the car peeled away from the dock, Chloe couldn't be happier. She glanced back at the towering cruise ship, a smiling playing at her lips.

Adrien? Adrien _who_? Chloe couldn't care less anymore. She had found other options, flashier ones, more famous ones, _better_ ones. Men that actually were interested in _her_ , not _Marinette Dupain-Cheng_.

And it was _fabulous_.


End file.
